i said it after most games so far ... if i had of been offered that result prior to the game id of bitten your hand of , delighted with the lads , a better performance then last week too .. positives can be taken out of it , i think ste cluxton looked very assured between the sticks (there was a moment after the monaghan goal that he took a kick out that went straight to a monaghan player but apart from that nearly all his kick outs stuck to a dublin player) , The full back and half back lines where ok , i was happy enough with them , there where some times when they looked shaky but i wouldnt be overly concerned , the forwards where a little better and we created an awful lot in this game , much more then previous games , maybe we need to be a little bit more clinical in goal scoring posistions but once them chances dont come back to haunt you , im over the moon with our league campaign so far , we are absolutely certain to avoid relegation now and that was the aim , if we win one more game we are likely to be in the final too providin other results go our way , and that will be a big boost , IF we get there

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 11:27:18    587484

Would be refreshing to see Dublin make the final, probably going to be against Cork one might suspect. Dublin seems to have done fantastic work with its defence and new batch of players. Maybe some good will have come from that heavy defeat to Kerry in the championship last year. If it had of been a narrow loss, less new blood would have been pursued this season.

John Boss (Tyrone) - Posts: 865 - 14/03/2010 12:40:34    587535

Another performance to be pleased with brogan clocking up more scores who would of tought we would have 4games 4 wins an a chance to play in the final fair play to them on their performance so far an hope they keep it up ...

DUB1 (Dublin) - Posts: 5583 - 14/03/2010 12:52:12    587539

johnboss , i said it to a mate of mine after the kerry game that , it might just be the best thing to happen dublin GAA in a long time , because it wasnt just a one year thing as this happened in 08 against yourselfs , and for it to happen again just proved that we needed a complete reform and thats happening now , im not saying the team we have now will compete for all irelands , but in maybe 3 or 4 years if we keep building , we may just start competing again , only time will tell , a complete rejig is what was needed and thanks be to god pat gilroy has the balls to do it ..

i dont know why but im still not convinced that dublin will be in a league final , i just dont like getting me hopes up with dublin , we have 3 very hard games now coming up against Cork , Galway and Tyrone , we can only afford one loss i feel ..

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 12:58:40    587544

Yes, i have to hold my hands up at this stage. I was quick to suggest Dublin were in false sense as of where they were at, but one has to take notice now, they have been tested physically too and passed with flying colours. You would think they will give the championship a right lash now. This years quest for sam in my opinion will see a different pattern develop, Cork i know have been knocking on the door and would be most peoples fancy at this stage(despite last ni, let me down for an accum), but Dublin, Mayo, Meath and maybe Galway will be in with a real shout if they believe and take their chance.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 14/03/2010 13:17:08    587557

waynoI, Dublin cannot really afford to lose more than one game, but really winning one will guarantee a league final place, and losing all of them would not rule Dublin out given that there are a good number of teams on 2 points who are going to take points from the other league challangers. Dublin have not been bad this past few years and have the core of a good side which was a bit brittle in defence. This new injection along with Gilroy decides is the pick of the best of the rest gives hope that the wait might not be that long. The confidence that comes with a NFL title would be substantial, although if as I suspect that Cork makes the final, that would be quite a battle. Even if a final was lost though it would represent progress maing a national final in comparison to the last few seasons when Dublin had no tangible evidence of improvement.

John Boss (Tyrone) - Posts: 865 - 14/03/2010 13:19:26    587561

john without a shadow of a doubt , couldnt agree more regarding the substantial confidence it would give , my main worry would be that IF dublin made a league final , not only would it add to the confidence of the team but the hype around the city would go up a notch and dublin dont need that right now , our aim was to simply avoid relegation , nothing more especially with the new blood coming through now , we have exceptionally over achieved so far , id be disappointed if we dont get to a league final now even though we have over achieved , it would be nice to say we got there , 4 wins have been enough for some teams in the past i hope its enough for dublin .. our defending has been considerably better of late , the full back line in particular have come up against some big fellas like donaghy o shea rory woods and tomas freeman to name but a few and i cant remember them being really battered .. i really hope tyrone dont get relegated , cant see it though i can see it being derry and monaghan , no disrespect to those two

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 13:47:21    587576

51longago , dublin are in a serious stage of transition now , you wont see them challenging for sam this year , you wont see meath challenging either in my opinion (no disrespect to the royals) , i think it will be the same three teams fighting it out to be in the final , kerry cork and tyrone , while people should stand up and take note of dublins recent form , they should not forget that this is the league , many teams will improve significantly between now and the summer when the serious stuff kicks in , its good to see dublin do well (unless your an anyone but dublin) , but lets not forget that its only march and each win its just a minor step on a very long tedious journey

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 13:54:39    587578

Spot on wayno.
As Gilroy has said from the start, lets take one game at a time. Lets not revert to type and start getting ahead of ourselves
Great work done so far, but a long long way to go before we can start considering ourselves challengers in any shape or form to Kerry

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 14/03/2010 14:03:55    587584

meath are useless at this stage and i wouldnt be confident of beatin laois if we even get past offaly.

donaldo (Meath) - Posts: 352 - 14/03/2010 16:03:48    587647

meath are useless at this stage and i wouldnt be confident of beatin laois if we even get past offaly.

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meath will improve between now and then dont you worry ..

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 16:15:10    587656

I get the vibe, ye are trying to keep it low key, not blow it out of proportion, it seems it's a bit of a tactic in response to previous years where hype was the downfall and while thats all good and well, it would not be good to get too negative on your chances for the summer.
I am not predicting Dublin to win the AI, i would fancy Cork at this stage but would still not back them because my mind might of changed come May. All i am trying to say it's the first year in a while that i can remember (so far), Dublin are in the top five on merit and not b/s hype.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 14/03/2010 16:21:33    587662

I get the vibe, ye are trying to keep it low key, not blow it out of proportion, it seems it's a bit of a tactic in response to previous years where hype was the downfall and while thats all good and well, it would not be good to get too negative on your chances for the summer.


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yea thats it , we are trying to keep it low key because as you said the whole media hype in the capital has been one of the reasons (not the sole reason) for dublin falling and falling badly in the all ireland series , we would gladly just win games like we are doing and not hear or see much about it in the papers , just nicely get on with our business , and while i do totally understand what your sayin 51longago , we are there on mirit so far because the league table doesnt lie , but if we play like this and get the results when it matters , in a pressure situation , then we can rate this dublin side in years to come because some of the new lads coming in are very young and have a good future ahead of them , ie. michael mcAuley , cian o sullivan , the o carroll brothers , michael fitzsimons james mccarthy and so on , you can only say good things about a team who has won all the games they have been involved in , but dublin players , management and genuine fans who know about dublin gaa in the not so distant past , certainly wont be getting their hopes up , when other people from other counties see us do well they too think we are the real deal , but it really is too early to say , im not just saying that to pour water on the flames , its the genuine truth

51longago what would you have seen as a succesful year for dublins footballers before the league campaign compared to now ?

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 16:40:59    587679

I am just talking in general here, i personally don't have any love for Dublin.

Before last years heavy defeat to Kerry, i would of not rated them at all in terms of up there with top 5/6 even. But i really think that it has been nothing but positive since for the Dubs, not just because they have done so well in the league but Gilroy has surprised me with the balls he has shown in doing his own thing and making change.I did hear after last years defeat in a clubhouse in n.Dublin that it wasn't him that was in charge at all but obviously this is untrue.I also think that the defeat has humbled a lot of your not so pleasant fans, which makes it easier for country folk like myself living in the capital to not dislike ye as much.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 14/03/2010 18:53:53    587789

Jeez living somewhere where you don't like the people must be very stressful for ye 51!?:). I, adore the dubs and am loving our consistency this year so far and if this is as good as it gets for us this year, it's more than I could have wished for after the Kerry game last year.

Jackeen (Dublin) - Posts: 4097 - 14/03/2010 19:34:30    587830

cant say im a huge lover of mayo but i fully respect them and their fans if they have the right attitude

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 20:37:35    587932

Believe

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 14/03/2010 20:51:13    587955

We Are Dublin


BELIEVE

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 14/03/2010 20:54:07    587958

Tom what did you make of the game last night ?

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 14/03/2010 20:55:29    587961

Haven't seen it in any reports in the papers but does anyone know how bad Paul Griffins injury was.
Looked in considerable pain when he was stretchered off

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 15/03/2010 09:09:35    588085